Real Madrid? No thanks, says Silva

There is a mixed bag of stories this morning with an exclusively Spanish theme.

Let’s get straight to business with David Silva quoted on Sports Witness regarding a recent interview he gave.

Tom Coast picks out a few lines from a story that appeared on the Mundo Deportivo website recently concerning Real Madrid’s alleged latest shopping list. He writes: “The article also linked Manchester City's star attacking midfielder David Silva to the Spanish giants it reads:

‘The name of David Silva, a player Real Madrid have also been linked with in the past, has re-emerged, and a reported bid of €60m could be made in order to acquire the Spaniard's services. However, this bid, if ever made, is most likely scheduled for next summer.’

Coast continues: “It seems that the rumours have reached the player and in an interview on Cadena Cope's El Partido de los 12 (the same radio show that broke the Thiago to Bayern Munich story), Silva took some time to clear the air on the rumours surrounding him: ‘I prefer not to say anything on the subject. I'm very happy in Manchester and I think this is similar to what happens every year. There are always rumours and, in the end, the player has to be calm. I renewed my contract because I am happy in Manchester.’”

International breaks, eh?

Meanwhile, TalkSport have an interesting focus on a rising teenage City star this morning which is worth a read.

Dom Bryant writes: “Man City had to battle hard to tempt promising Jose Angel Pozo to England in 2012, with Real Madrid president Fiorentino Perez making a last ditch bid to keep him in Spain.

“But it proved to no avail and last season – even before a damaging injury ended his year – the 17-year-old's searing pace and eye for goal was already causing backlines numerous problems.

“Pozo has recently recovered from an ankle ligament operation and is back in training, much to the probable relief of his team-mates. City's youngsters have struggled this season without the star striker and, at time of writing, are 21st in the U21 Premier League.

“Pozo will hoping to be up and firing again soon and may even feature in Manuel Pellegrini's first team squad in the cups.”

Finally, The Hard Tackle go head-to-head with Alvaro Negredo and Michu to discover who should be leading the line for Spain.

Amlan Majumdar’s conclusion is thus: “(The) overall record shows that Negredo is more of a goal threat that Michu, which is expected since he is more of a natural striker while Michu has grown into this role.

“Negredo is more direct than Michu and isn’t afraid to shot on sight, even from long range. Negredo had a total of 150 shots in the league games last season (4.2 shots per goal), while Michu had a total of 110 shots (3.1 shots per goal).”